21/08/2026
CALIFORNIA HAS AN ABANDONED BOAT PROBLEM
From Southern California harbors to San Francisco Bay, the Sacramento San Joaquin Delta and waterways throughout Northern California, abandoned and derelict vessels are becoming a massive environmental, financial and public safety problem.
And the scary part is that we do not even know exactly how many are out there.
California still does not have a complete statewide inventory of abandoned and derelict vessels. The problem has become serious enough that the State Legislature has called for an inventory in the Sacramento San Joaquin Delta, an area with more than 700 miles of waterways that has become a major dumping ground for abandoned vessels. California programs have already removed thousands of vessels over the years, yet boats continue to be abandoned, sink and deteriorate in our waterways.
Every one of these boats can contain fiberglass, fuel, oil, batteries, wiring, plastics, metals and other materials that can become an environmental hazard when a vessel is left to rot or sink.
Through the Catalina Crew Foundation, we are working toward a different solution.
Our goal is to create a privately funded abandoned and derelict vessel mitigation program that can work alongside public agencies to remove vessels before they become environmental disasters. But we do not want the story to end at demolition.
We want to recycle these vessels.
Fiberglass, metals and other recoverable materials should be separated, processed and given a second life wherever possible. Our vision is to help develop partnerships that can turn material from yesterday’s abandoned boats into resources for tomorrow’s construction and infrastructure projects.
This is bigger than cleaning up a marina.
It is about protecting California’s coastline, harbors, rivers and Delta. It is about creating a responsible end of life solution for boats. And it is about proving that something considered waste today can become a resource tomorrow.
We have a lot of work ahead of us, but somebody has to start.
CATALINA CREW | LIVE TO TELL THE TALE
